SIDNEY (March 11, 2024) -- The City of Sidney has hired Brandy Stone as the new Economic Development Director.

Her appointment was made official this morning.

Stone is from the Potter-Dix area, graduating from Potter High School in 2010. After attending college for a couple of years, she joined the U.S. Army in 2013, serving in Active Duty for seven years before transitioning to the Reserve.

She holds degrees in Emergency Management, Strategic Communication, Intelligence Operations Studies, and Project Management.

With family still in the local area, her roots run deep in our community.

"I started with an emergency management degree in college because I really liked that field of study. I always liked helping people. I started with criminal justice for a short while. I moved on to emergency management, and then graduated with that first, then Strategic Communications, and Intelligence Studies," Stone said today.

She is now nearing completion of her Project Management Masters. Stone said much of what she has been involved in revolves around serving people.

"Everything I've done has been just based on always helping people in one way or another. I guess I never realized how much project management could do just that. I've been doing project management since I joined the military," Stone said.

Her interest in economic development is related to her interest in helping people.

"It comes back to helping people, once again. I really like getting imbedded in the community. Last year, when I got to do my Ruck March, that's, that's when it really hit home. I realized how much fun it can be," she said.

She plans to start her work was Economic Development Director by learning what does each individual business owner need, or feel the City needs to work on, for them as a business, then the business community as a whole. She said the community needs to strengthen from the inside. She said the City should encourage small business as well as corporate interests.

"My job is to make sure we have more jobs coming in so I'll have to figure out what that bigger scale looks like," she said.

Her belief in hard work, dedication, integrity, selfless service, and honor shapes her approach to her role in Sidney. She’s set to spend her initial months meeting with business owners and community members to understand their needs and visions for Sidney.